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Dakota Access Pipeline CEO Calls Water Protectors 'Naive'

  • Protesters block a highway during a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota, U.S. Nov. 15, 2016.

    Protesters block a highway during a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota, U.S. Nov. 15, 2016. | Photo: Reuters

Published 17 November 2016
Opinion

Energy Transfer Partners’ chief said the pipeline did not pass through sacred lands of Standing Rock nation adding that it will be done despite protests.

Emboldened by the elections of Donald Trump, the company behind the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline will seek to complete the project even if protests against its construction continue, its chief executive told the PBS NewsHour television news program late Wednesday.

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"This is not a peaceful protest," said Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer Partners. "If they want to stick around and continue to do what they’re doing, great, but we’re building the pipeline."

Warren further called the protesters “naive” and said that they would not stop the project. He further claimed that the pipeline does not go through lands that belong to the Native American Standing Rock tribe. “We’re not on any Indian property at all, no Native American property. We’re on private lands.”

He further dismissed concerns over leaks and damage to the local water source by the protests and water protectors.

“Number two, this pipeline is new steel pipe. We’re boring underneath Lake Oahe. It’s going to go 90 feet to 150 feet below the lake’s surface. It’s thick wall pipe, extra thick, by the way, more so than just the normal pipe that we lay.

Warren, a known supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, said he expects the project to go ahead as soon as the real estate billionaire takes officer in January by allowing “the rules, procedures and laws."

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Kelcy Warren, the top executive at Energy Transfer, donated more than US$100,000 to the Trump campaign. The Obama administration temporarily halted the construction of the US$3.8 billion pipeline in September amid protests and initiated a review.

Last week, Army Corps of Engineers issued a statement saying it needs more time to study the Dakota Access and will seek “additional discussion” with the Standing Rock Sioux nation.

Warren also told PBS the company wants to reimburse the state and Morton County for the money spent on handling the protests. But authorities have yet to accept the offer.

His comments came just days after protests swept North America to mark the day of action against the Dakota Access pipeline and in support of the Standing Rock tribe. On the same day, Energy Transfer asked a federal court for permission to complete it.

The action against the pipeline has ignited local and international solidarity and attracted more than 300 Native American tribes from across the U.S. in a show of unity that is being called historic.

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